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So you have a sweet little bundle of joy and you are wondering, “what comes next? what will it be like when they are toddlers?!” Well just keep on reading and I will tell you all about toddlers.

Messier than Babies

There might be times where you look at a little baby and shudder just thinking about all the messy faces you have to wipe up, the millions of diapers they fill EACH DAY, and the snotty crusty noses that need to constantly be wiped up. Now imagine all that, only now the baby runs away from you when you try to clean them up. Not only that but you try to teach them to clean up their own messes and you end up wanting to pull out your hair because they just ignore all 10 times that you repeat what you are asking them to do.

They are Fast

Toddlers are serious athletes. You would think that given their size that you could easily outrun them. In most cases this is true, but throw in their boundless energy and their ability to slip away from you without a sound, and they already have a major head start. And they love watching you try and catch them as they run through the grocery store, jumping in front of each cart! It’s hilarious to them!

While their blossoming personality is adorable, it can be irritating.

It has been one of the greatest joys to watch my son grow from a sweet baby into a little boy. He is such a sweet kid and while I love watching him grow and learn and be silly, I’ve also watched his not-so-cute personality traits develop. The main one is stubbornness. It takes all of my willpower in order to get my child to do anything he doesn’t want to do. And sometimes he will say no to doing things that he actually wants to do, but because I asked it of him, he says no. With an angry little face too!

They talk. A LOT.

As my little boy started learning new words and then forming sentences, the wordsmith in me was jumping for joy. It is incredible how children go from not being able to talk to suddenly being able to say one word, then five, then one hundred. Their little minds are truly sponges. I never thought I could ever get tired of hearing him actually talking. Fast-forward to our trip to Wendy’s where he was continuously yelling, “Mom! I want chicken nuggets!”

They are freaking hilarious

This is one that I’m sure doesn’t surprise you! Having the ability to speak with little knowledge as to what words actually mean creates hilarious situations! Not only that but their sense of humor really starts to show. My son started saying “just kidding” all the time with a little chuckle after. It’s the cutest and funniest thing, and he has no idea what he’s talking about.

They copy everything you do.

You may have heard this before, and it’s extremely true. Not only do they copy the words you say, but they start to mimic your actions. Little boy already has picked up on my dance moves. Obviously he is going to rock it at the club someday….You get to start recognize how much they are like you or your significant other.

They typically are not friends with each other

Have you ever heard of something called parallel play? It is a common occurrence among toddlers where two kids may be playing in the same area but they have little interest in including each other in their play. They prefer to do their own thing, and often times become upset when someone else tries to play with them. Also the friendships that do exist are very fragile. If one dares to take the dinosaur the other one set down, it’s over. They are not friends ANYMORE! There will always be mommies that imply that their kids are “best friends!!”. Their children are probably unaware of this friendship.

Classes for toddlers in the community cost an arm and a leg, and you’ll want to do them all.

There are SO many awesome classes for your little one!! From swimming classes to music classes, you’ll want to try them all. That’s awesome! Try as many as you can, because they are really fun and a great way to meet other moms. However they can be very expensive. For example, we attended music class and it cost around $170 for two times a month for 4 months! I felt that to be a bit high. I think we will go ahead and stick to the FREE story time at the library. Yay!

The sweet moments become even sweeter.

Your little one is no long all that little anymore! They are growing bigger and smarter and more independent each and every day. Those sweet little moments where they actually want to cuddle with you are few and far between. Those times when you wish your child would just stop touching you for five seconds become times where you wish they would just let you hug them for more than five seconds. These moments are precious and will be cherished forever.

What are some interesting things you have discovered about toddlers? Comment below and let us know!

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Are you super bored right now? Maybe you just finished bingewatching Friends on Netflix and need something new to watch (ahem…). Recently Netflix has been creating more and more original series and I gotta say, Netflix knows TV! There are lots of really awesome Netflix originals, but here’s a list of my top 5.

Unbreakable

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Oh my goodness. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has got to be one of the funniest shows ever. If you liked Ellie Kemper for her role in The Office, you will probably love this show because Continue reading →

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Hello everyone! Today I decided to try out this nifty watercolor mug idea floating around. It is a DIY that is so easy and inexpensive! Want to try it out? Keep reading!

Super cool looking right? So here are the things you will need!

A mug. You could really use any color mug but obviously white makes the colors really pop! I actually got this one at Dollar Tree. Isn’t that awesome?? I couldn’t find a nice white mug for $1 anywhere else! This one is super cute so it was meant to be.

Some sort of container filled with warm water. I used a piece of tupperware. You may want to use something you don’t mind getting nail polish on. Also, the wider the mouth of the container, the better. Mine was alright but a bit small for my mug. It made it a little more difficult to coat the mug correctly.

Nail polish. You can use as many colors as you want! I used two, but you could use one or five–it’s up to you!

A toothpick. This really is optional; if you don’t have one you can still make this, but it helps to make the design a little cooler.

LET’S GET STARTED!

STEP 1: Find a nice surface to do this. The kitchen table is fine. I did it on my living room floor with some cardboard underneath. Now drip your nail polish into the water. I would suggest this be done as fast as possible because it becomes increasingly difficult to do as the nail polish dries. Feel free to place as many drops as you like.

STEP 2: If you want to make your design really interesting you can swirl the color around a bit with a toothpick.

STEP 3: Dip your mug! Do your best to just dip the sides of the mug. I did not and got some of the design on the bottom as well as the inside of the mug (oops!). It’s OK if you do , though! Just use some nail polish remover wherever you don’t want the color to have ended up.

STEP 4: Allow your mug to dry at least 2 hours. And you’re done! You end up with a unique, beautiful, and simple to make mug! You will never find another exactly like it! Go you!

I thought this was so cool looking and pretty. An optional extra step is to dip it again with more colors as many times as you like. Just be sure to let the mug dry in between dips. This mug is now handwash only as well. Enjoy!

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Registering for your cute little fetus is seriously the best thing ever. You get to choose the very first colors and objects that your child will see and love and grow with. How amazing is that? You are deciding where their life starts. Makes you wonder how different colors and objects encourage different outcomes for each child?? But that’s a little too complex for this article, so maybe next time! Anyway, there are definitely certain things that are NECESSARY for the beginnings of parenthood, and then there are many things that are unnecessary as well. This post is mostly about the things you need, but I’ll go ahead and post a few unnecessary things at the end.

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So maybe you are wanting to save up for something special. Maybe you are a stay-at-home mom. Perhaps you just want a little extra cash in your pocket. Whatever the reason, you just want to have some extra money without having to work overtime every day. Well friends, I have a few solutions for you!! There are apps out there that give you money! Yes, you have read that correctly. Essentially FREE MONEY (I had to capitalize that because come on, those two words just draw people in). These apps hand you money for basically doing things you already do. Now just throwing this out there- you are not going to get like $1000 in no time with these apps, but they do provide ways of making a few extra bucks you can throw in the bank. Or at the bookstore clerk. Whatevs. Continue reading →

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Now I know EVERYONE who ever talks about budgeting generally brings up Dave Ramsey, and I bet there are people out there who get really annoyed by that, but the reason is because his methods really do work and they help even the worst spenders and those with the highest debt to have better finances. And while I love what Dave Ramsey has to offer, there are a few ways I have tweaked his methods to best fit my family and our situation. Continue reading →